[00:04.52]From VOA Learning English, [00:07.86]this is IN THE NEWS. [00:10.11]This week, the Obama administration [00:12.98]released a budget plan for the 2014 fiscal year. [00:18.24]The plan calls for three trillion 770 billion dollars [00:24.10]in federal spending during the year beginning in October. [00:28.94]President Barack Obama calls the proposal, [00:32.00]"a fiscally responsible blueprint" [00:35.22]for middle class jobs and economic growth. [00:39.44]The budget is his attempt to move closer [00:42.80]to a "grand bargain" he sought in debt [00:46.93]and deficit reduction talks with Republican Party lawmakers. [00:52.60]The plan includes one-point-eight trillion dollars [00:56.82]in deficit reduction over 10 years. [01:00.58]It also adds two-point-five trillion dollars [01:05.54]in savings the president says have already been realized. [01:10.15]This would bring total savings [01:12.95]to four-point-three trillion dollars. [01:16.97]Mr. Obama says his budget proposal [01:20.58]seeks to end what he calls short-sighted, [01:24.49]crisis-driven decision-making here in Washington. [01:28.66]"For years, the debate in this town has raged [01:31.04]between reducing our deficits at all costs [01:33.90]and making the investments necessary to grow our economy. [01:38.11]And this budget answers that argument because we can do both. [01:42.99]We can grow our economy and shrink our deficits." [01:47.06]To become law, the president's budget [01:49.92]would require congressional approval, [01:52.49]which political experts say is unlikely. [01:56.25]His budget would replace tens of billions of dollars [02:00.78]in required spending cuts. [02:03.63]Those cuts went into effect on January first. [02:08.34]Mr. Obama also wants to limit legal ways [02:13.62]businesses and wealthy individuals can avoid paying taxes. [02:19.49]And he wants to establish a minimum 30 percent tax [02:24.66]on people earning one million dollars or more a year. [02:29.54]President Obama, who is a Democrat, says he has gone [02:34.11]more than halfway to meet concerns of Republican lawmakers [02:38.82]who have resisted tax increases. [02:42.35]House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, [02:47.11]gives Mr. Obama credit for seeking more savings [02:50.83]from Social Security and other big entitlement programs. [02:56.04]But he says the president's proposals [02:59.00]are another attempt to increase taxes. [03:02.76]"He does deserve some credit [03:04.71]for some incremental entitlement reforms [03:07.58]that he has outlined in his budget. [03:10.43]But I would hope that he would not [03:12.79]hold hostage these modest reforms for his demand for bigger tax hikes." [03:19.46]The president is proposing savings by using a new method [03:23.87]to set cost of living increases for Social Security payments. [03:29.05]But this proposal has angered [03:31.86]many members of Mr. Obama's Democratic Party. [03:35.64]Another critic, Senator Bernie Sanders, is an independent. [03:40.85]He says the proposal is a cancellation of a promise Mr. Obama made [03:47.27]as a presidential candidate. [03:49.58]"When Barack Obama was running for president in 2008, [03:54.35]he said that he would not cut Social Security." [04:00.24]Mr. Obama defended his Social Security offer and changes to Medicare, [04:07.42]the health insurance program for older adults and Americans with disabilities. [04:13.45]But he says any compromise must not hurt Americans who depend on these programs. [04:21.02]"I do not believe that all these ideas are optimal. [04:24.70]But I am willing to accept them as part of a compromise, [04:27.11]if and only if they contain protections for the most vulnerable Americans. [04:32.48]President Obama's budget will go nowhere [04:35.24]without the support of the two main political parties. [04:39.39]Senate Democrats and House Republicans have their own separate spending plans.

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